Reading the Text: Haftarah Zachor IV

Transcribed and prepared by Anna Beller: Listen to how Reb Tzadok reads this: Shaul understood, that this was not just a fight with the nation but a fight with the exile, so he said like this, “It’s not enough to destroy an external yetzer hara, because if this is truly a battle with evil it has to destroy whatever evil is inside of me as well.”

The one issue Shaul knew he had trouble with was that he was so merciful that he had issues with doing what God told him to do. Therefore he allowed himself leeway with Agag to allow himself to feel his compassion and then to later kill so that he would be fighting his own yetzer hara. But Shaul understood he needed to get within himself at that point.

Did you ever hear of people working on something religiously, and put themselves into a questionable situation so they can deal with it the way they are supposed to? Shaul’s problem was that he never sinned before, he didn’t know how to handle it.

Number 2 is the minute you do that you blur the line, because what your doing is giving into the yetzer harah even if you’re doing it for good reason, the line becomes blurry which is exactly the issue we say he’s been doing all along. Even when he’s driving himself it is because he doesn’t have a clear distinction as to what he’s supposed to be doing or not. He doesn’t have experience with sin, he doesn’t know how to delineate between what’s good and evil, same issue as Adam and Eve, to them it was blurry that’s why they wanted the Tree of Knowledge so they could know what was good and evil the same thing people want to teach their children. They had to know what was good and evil to teach their children these things.

Back to the beginning of the story: and Samuel said to Saul, it was I whom God said to anoint you over His nation, over Israel and now listen to the words of the Voice of God. So says god the Lord of Hosts.

What’s the verse for? Why do you need the introduction?

Shaul and Samuel are two parts of a whole, he’s saying, we are two parts of one whole. I am the one who anointed you and your strength as king comes from me and your issue will be one of compassion but it comes from me. Same as before I come from the tribe of Levi , the tribe of Din/Judgment. Therefore I gave you the power and the wisdom, the oil, I was the one who gave you what you need to deal with this battle. Whatever issues you’re going to have I know them before. Shmuel knew he would struggle and tried to preempt it.